Prestige of selected medical professions in the opinion of representatives of these professions

Abstract

Background The aim of this article is to present the prestige of selected medical professions in the opinion of people practicing these professions. Material and Methods The study was conducted by means of the survey technique. The research tool was an original questionnaire prepared by the authors of the study, which was carried out on a sample of 346 professionally active physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychotherapists, and occupational therapists. Those people were employed in public institutions (hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers) located in Kraków and Katowice. The selection of the sample was deliberate. Results The profession of a physician received the highest score of prestige, while the lowest one was achieved by the profession of an occupational therapist. As factors influencing the prestige of a given profession, physicians and physiotherapists most often indicated social respect for the profession, while nurses, psychotherapists, and occupational therapists emphasized the importance of education. The level of prestige of medical professions, as compared with other professions, decreased with seniority. Conclusions The profession of a physician occupies the leading position in the hierarchy of the self-assessed prestige of medical professions. Physicians notice a general tendency to assess the prestige of their profession in a broader context – the position of this profession is weakening in favor of other public utility jobs, despite the fact that physicians still occupy an important place in the rankings of prestige including all professions. A negative self-assessment of the prestige of the occupation performed over the period of ten years prevail only in the case of physicians and nurses. Med Pr. 2019;70(5):587–95

Keywords

• nurses
• physicians
• psychotherapists
• physiotherapists
• occupational therapists
• prestige of the profession